I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying fall, even in Okinawa. I am loving the colors and the smell of the leaves, and am completely incredulous about the fact that I leave on Monday. The first couple of days here in the MTC felt like an eternity, but after that, time has flown. I am really sad to leave this place, but I know that I have so much waiting for me in the field.
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| We literally live in these seats. |
Last Friday was our final visit with J., and she accepted our invitation to be baptized! It was such a good lesson, Sister B. and I could not believe how she went from not being baptized to committing to follow the example of Jesus Christ. This week, we started to teach L. and . L. just graduated from BYU with an English degree. She grew up with a member friend and just wants to know more about the church. We really like teaching her, she asks us challenging questions that make us think and search for answers. We only have one more lesson with her. A. is half Japanese, so the first time we met him we just ranted about how good Japanese food is for the first ten minutes. It was really fun, and we like teaching him, though he doesn't know yet if God is really there and if he is receiving answers to his prayers. Sister B. and I are doing our best to be patient and to teach by the Spirit. Learning to teach by the Spirit has been my major goal for these last few days in the MTC, and I know I will be learning how my whole mission.
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| There is this really small door next to a normal door it's my favorite. |
Tuesday was probably my favorite day out of this whole week. It started out with a really good lesson with Ll. We were not really sure how it went, but the investigators comment about the lessons online, and she commented that she really enjoyed talking with us and feels like we are genuinely interested in her. I was really grateful for this, because I have not been sure to show my investigators how much I really do care about them during the lessons. We had class like normal, but we were all looking forward to the devotional that night. We had gone to choir practice on Sunday, and the director told us that singing at the devotional on Tuesday would be a life-changing experience. We of course all assumed that a general authority would be coming to visit. When we got to choir practice that night, the excitement and anticipation in the air was tangible. The director told us that the devotional would be broadcast to all the MTC's around the world. As soon as I heard this, I got really excited, because my dear friend, Abby, is currently at the Mexico MTC, so if the camera ever landed on me during the song, SHE WOULD SEE ME ALL THE WAY IN MEXICO. The director wouldn't tell us who was coming, so we just practiced our song. The song we sang is called "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer", and it is a newer arrangement than maybe some of you are familiar with. It is an amazing song, really beautiful and powerful. 15 minutes before the devotional began, the audience started singing hymns, like we usually do before devotionals. I saw the doors open, and the first person I recognized was Sister Bednar, which of course meant that Elder Bednar was speaking to us tonight. I was so excited, Elder Bednar was on our list of people we hoped would come that night.
Singing "Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer" really was a life-changing experience, it really is a honor to sing for an apostle. For the devotional, Elder and Sister Bednar stood side by side at the pulpit and talked about general conference. Elder Bednar taught us how he watches conference and studies the talks after conference. For each talk, he looks for the doctrine/principle that is taught, the invitation given, and the blessing promised for accepting that invitation. We then watched snippets from some different talks to practice this approach. It was a great devotional which gave me an increased desire to really dig into the conference talks for the next 6 months. After the devotional, our district leader, who wasn't in the choir, told us that my companion and I were put on camera during the song (they have big screens which project what is being recorded and sent to the other MTCs). This of course got me really hoping that Abby saw me. So, when I checked my email, the first thing I see is an email from Abby with the subject line "I SAW YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!", which of course made me super happy. I love her so much!
I have completely loved my time here at the MTC, and it is so bittersweet to be finishing up. I have not regretted for one moment to serve a mission, and I am so happy that I still have so much time in front of me to dedicate myself to the Lord's work!
Love,
Sister Jensen
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| The District. |
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This is such a heart warming post. I think back on watching this lovely young lady grow to be a missionary and consider it a great blessing. Thanks for posting.
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